UPTs DELIVERS TO OSCE INFORMATION ABOUT PREVENTION OF GREAT PROCESSION OF THE CROSS ON 27 JULY
Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church delivered to a delegation of the Monitoring Mission of the O.S.C.E. [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] in Ukraine information about obstructions on the part of a number of local officials and security forces to the arrival in Kiev of participants in the Great Procession of the Cross on 27 July marking the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Rus, the website of the UPTs of the Moscow patriarchate reports.
The meeting with representatives of the O.S.C.E. mission was held Wednesday [25 July] in the Kiev caves lavra. The participant in it from the UPTs was the chairman of the information and enlightenment department of the UPTs, Archbishop of Nezhin and Priluki Kliment. According to information from the UPTs, discussion in the meeting involved questions connected with the preparation of a Great Procession of the Cross on the occasion of the celebration of the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Rus, which will be held on Friday in the Ukrainian capital.
"In particular, what was considered were problems that are arising for believers in connection with their desire to get to Kiev to participate in the celebration of the baptism of Rus on 27 July. Representatives of the mission recorded all instances of obstruction of the participation by believers of the UPTs in the procession of the cross that were presented by Archbishop Kliment on the basis of information arriving from various regions of Ukraine," the report says.
Earlier the Moscow patriarchate expressed concern regarding news arriving from Ukraine about obstacles to conducting a procession of the cross by the UPTsMP. The vice-chairman of the synod's Department for Relations of the Church with Society and News Media, Vakhtang Kipshidze, in particular, noted that unhindered conduct of religious processions is guaranteed by both international law and domestic laws of Ukraine. Kipshidze urged that "all impediments to the peaceful conduct of a procession of the cross be immediately removed so that our Ukrainian brethren would have the opportunity for prayer without being subjected to threats and restrictions of any kind."
At the UPTsMP it was stated that officials are massively blocking the participation of believers from various regions in a prayer service on Vladimir Knoll and a procession of the cross on 27 July, prohibiting, for examples, carriers from going along their routes to Kiev on that day. At the same time, authorities are trying to support the conducting of a procession by the schismatic Kiev patriarchate: "Local administrations themselves are engaged in arranging buses for participation in ceremonies of the Kiev patriarchate on 28 July," the UPTs notes.
The holiday of the Baptism of Rus will be
celebrated on the
memorial day of Prince Vladimir (28 July). In Ukraine, the main
celebrations
will occur on 27 and 28 July. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 July 2018)
POROSHENKO TO PARTICIPATE IN PROCESSION OF KIEV PATRIARCHATE ON OCCASION OF BAPTISM
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, on 28 July, will take part in a festive procession of the cross in Kiev on the occasion of the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Rus, his press service reported on Wednesday [25 July].
The holiday of the Baptism of Rus, 28 July, is solemnly marked in Russia, Belorussia, Moldavia, and Ukraine. In particular, in Kiev on 27 July there will be a procession of the cross to Vladimir Knoll, where Metropolitan of Kiev and all-Ukraine Onufrey will conduct a prayer service. In the Kiev caves lavra, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will perform a liturgy. At the same time, supporters of the Kiev patriarchate are preparing to conduct their own procession of the cross on the occasion of the day of baptism, 28 July.
"On 28 July 2018, President Petro Poroshenko will take part in the events on the occasion of the 1030th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus-Ukraine," the report says.
In particular, in the Mariinsky palace there will be a state event with the participation of the Ukrainian president and upon its completion there will be a procession, "Prayer for Ukraine." Then Poroshenko will make a speech at the monument to the holy equal-with-the-apostles Prince Vladimir the Great.
Previously, a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the "Opposition bloc," Vadim Novinsky, appealed to the heads of the security service, the MVD, and the prosecutor general's office demanding the curtailment of pressure by personnel of the local departments of the S.B.U. [Ukrainian Security Service] on the leadership of the dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on the eve of the procession of the cross. Also the chairman of the synod's information and enlightenment department of the UPTsMP, Archbishop Kliment, discussed with representatives of the special Monitoring Mission of the O.S.C.E. in Ukraine the question of obstructions to the participation of believers of the UPTsMP in a procession of the cross in Kiev on 27 July. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 25 July 2018)
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